CSU to seek state funds to avoid 9% tuition hike

LOS ANGELES - California State University students would be hit with a 9 percent tuition hike for the next academic year if the state does not allocate additional funds for the 23-campus system in its upcoming budget.

The board of trustees is set to vote on the $498 annual raise at a meeting next Wednesday, university spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said Tuesday. The raise would bring the yearly tuition bill to $5,970.

The university is hoping to stave off the increase by asking the state Legislature in January for an extra $138 million so tuition does not have to be raised for the sixth consecutive year, Uhlenkamp said.

"We're going to ask the Legislature to allocate funds to buy out the increase," he said.

Tuition was upped by 23percent this year after CSU's funding was slashed by $650 million. Enrollment was also slashed by 10,000. If state revenue falls short of projections, another $100 million could be cut next month, Uhlenkamp said.

Students plan to join the university in lobbying the state Legislature for funding to avoid another tuition hike, said Miles Jason Nevin, executive director of the California State Student Association.

"We do not favor tuition increases, but we understand the position the trustees are in," he said.

The proposed tuition hike comes as faculty picketed numerous campuses this week and made plans to walk off the job on two campuses on Nov. 17 to protest the university's withholding of pay raises for more than 23,000 faculty members as per their contract.

A state-appointed fact-finding panel recently recommended that the university pay out the raises incrementally, starting with $20 million in the first year and $10 million in subsequent years.

But Uhlenkemp said it would be financially irresponsible to pay raises when the university's funding is so precarious. California State University students would be hit with a 9 percent tuition hike for the next academic year if the state does not allocate an additional $138 million for the 23-campus system in its upcoming budget.